The Ruler of Everything (in the end)
by Coney cuniculus
Summary: An updated version of the original story (I'm the) Ruler of Everything (in the end). Inspired by the song Ruler of Everything by Tally Hall.
1. He knew he'd been had

The Ruler of Everything

"_Number your thumb_

_Impossible sum_

_Of the monkey fist hung on a vine_

_Organism assembly line_

_Everything's gonna be fine_

_Play pretend" - Ruler of Everything Demo_

(Inspired by "Ruler of Everything" by tally hall)

Juno knew the warren was soon to be his. Not just him; everyone. The young tan-brown rabbit was the son of the chief rabbit himself, and was already head of the Owsla; it was only a matter of time.

The warren had many holes and burrows that had been dug into the soft dirt hill in the middle of a clearing somewhere in the woods. A way away the clearing led to a dark blue lake, which many rabbits used to swim and play in the shallows.

Soon it would all be his. Juno-rah had a nice ring to it. He smiled. All he had to do now was wait, but for how long? Juno knew that the current leader was long past his glory days. Each day he seemed to grow weaker and weaker; it was only a matter of time. But Juno was growing impatient, how long did he have to wait for Lily-rah to die?

"Juno! Me and Lavender are going out to raid the far garden and maybe drop by Sandalford warren. Want to come along?"

Juno was pulled from his thoughts to see who had just spoken to him; it was Marigold, one of Juno's most respected of the Owsla. He was known to take initiative and help others before himself, and on several occasions helped with digging the warren (causing much commotion amongst the other rabbits). Juno disliked him for it. Although he never dared to say it out loud. Just behind Marigold stood violet.

"No," Juno stated simply.

"If that's your decision I cannot change that," Said Marigold, and then swiftly disappeared into the forest with Lavender at tow.

Juno watched the two disappear into the woods before continuing his morning silflay.

Soon He became aware of the dryness to his mouth. _No matter, _he reasoned, _I'll just head down by the lake and take care of it there, and perhaps I'll take a swim as well, after all, it is quite hot today._

After heading across the clearing, and drinking his fill, he waded into the water until it was just halfway up his flanks. He stood there for a good while letting the water cool him off.

Then, from the woods, a rabbit emerged, at first, Juno thought it was Marigold or Violet, but was proved wrong when he noticed it's brilliant-white fur that glistened in the shine of the sun. The stranger hopped up towards the lake and lapped up some of the water, then started to hop along the shore until he was in the spot Juno had stood when he got in.

The wading rabbit tensed himself, anticipating the stranger to suddenly jump on him and attack him. Juno knew that his position would mean that the stranger would get the first hit in. But the stranger did not attack, much to his surprise.

"Excuse me, sir, have you seen a rabbit named Juno around here? " The stranger said, in a smooth voice, it sounded calming, as a mother to her kits, and intimidating, like an owsla officer. But Juno couldn't tell whether the stranger was a buck or a doe.

Juno decided not to reveal his true identity to the stranger just yet, and rushed out of the water until he was face-to-face the stranger, who was, curiously enough, radiating a warm heat, like the sun on a foggy afternoon.

"Who are you? State your business!" Juno said, in a commanding voice he had always practiced. The warren never had any intruders so Juno practiced on the outskirts of the warren quite often.

"My business?" The stranger said, "I'm here to talk to Juno,"

"What for?"

"I'd like to meet him first,"

"Why can't you tell me?"

"It's classified, you wouldn't understand,"

Juno finally bit, "Fine. I'm the rabbit you're looking for; I'm Juno"

The other rabbit clapped his paws together, "excellent," he said, "I've been sent by Frith himself to talk to you,"

"F-Frith?"

"Indeed,"

"You're insane, now leave. We don't want you at this warren," Juno commanded. He wasn't going to get fooled by that trick again.

"Is my appearance not enough for you?"

"Just, just leave. You're giving me a headache and I'd like to not deal with this right now."

"You know why I'm here, don't you Juno?"

But Juno wasn't paying attention and was instead heading back to the warren with the intention of talking to the chief rabbit about the whole ordeal.

"Where do you think you're going?" The stranger had suddenly materialized in Juno's way causing the poor buck to jump a good 6 feet in the air.

"What the- How?"

"I asked you a question and I expect you to answer it," the stranger commanded.

The stranger began to unnerve Juno more and more. First frith and now popping from out of thin air? Perhaps he was a messenger of frith, but that would be just stupid. There was no way it could be true.

"I don't have to answer," Juno said stubbornly, sitting down to add emphasis to the fact, "Now I'm going to tell the chief rabbit about this, and when I do, my owsla will chase you off our land. Do you understand?"

The stranger expression went from an expression of cheeriness to one of pure annoyance, causing Juno's heart to drop. He knew he had said something very wrong. So quickly he stood back up and started for the warren only to get knocked over and pinned on his side by the stranger.

"You're not going anywhere until you answer my question,"

Squirm as he might, the stranger's grip wasn't going to loosen anytime soon. He was cornered. Powerless. He hated it. He tried again but to no avail.

"Fine!" He said, "Could you let-"

"No"

"You're here because you want to attack the warren?"

The stranger just stared at Juno for a good while. The young rabbit tried to squirm away but still couldn't overcome the surprisingly heavy rabbit.

Juno grunted, "Just let me go! I'm going to be chief in a few seasons and when they find out I'm dead you're going to regret it!"

"And that's why I'm here," The stranger finally spoke.

"T-to kill me?"

"No. I'm here because Frith sent me here. And do you know why?"

Juno shook his head.

"Because of how egotistic you are,"

"Me? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"You have a mate, don't you? Am I correct?"

"Uh, Yes."

"And do you know what she thinks of you?"

Juno only glared at the stranger. Despite them being together, his mate, Papaveri, didn't like him very much, constantly criticizing him for being egocentric. But he had always disregarded it as her jealousy of his position in the owsla. They were yet to have any kits together.

"Low blow," he grumbled, "Now can you get off of me?"

"I'm not finished yet,"

Juno scoffed.

"Frith sent me here to stop your egoism; So Stop," With that The Stranger let Juno stand back up, "That is all."

The stranger started back towards where he had come but stopped when Juno called back to him. He wasn't going to trust the word of the strange rabbit. Proof. That's what he needed. He wasn't the captain of the Owsla for letting people fool him.

"If you say that Frith sent you, why don't you answer me this question?"

"Go right ahead,"

"Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

The Stranger grinned, "How do I know your name? Simple. Frith himself told me; as for who I am, I'm the Ruler of Everything,"

Who did this stranger think he was? There was no way he was the Ruler of Everything. Frith was. Juno could hardly believe this imposter.

"Do you want me to show you?" The stranger had sensed his doubt.

Juno nodded, "Prove yourself."

The stranger nodded his head. He closed his eyes tightly, and an expression of concentration appeared on his face. Suddenly the wind began to howl, the trees whipped around in the flurry at an alarming rate; Juno could feel his heart start to race. The sky began to darken as the sun bolted across the sky in a lively arc and landed halfway below the horizon, turning it a brilliant shade of orange-red.

Then it all stopped. Everything became still once more. Juno felt his fur to make sure that nothing bad had happened to him. When he realized he hadn't, he found the stranger standing there, staring at him.

"Is that enough evidence?"

Juno looked around, "What did you do?"

"What I do best. Make sure that time always go forward,"

Juno was amazed. He really had been visited by one of the great rabbits.

"How far forward can you go?" Juno asked He was beginning to get giddy.

"As far as I please; I just can't go backward."

All the possibilities! Thought Juno. He could skip through his own life and get to the good stuff! Then a plan formulated in his head. If hopping across time itself was such a beach walk for the "Ruler of Everything" perhaps Juno could skip over the chief's death and simply become Juno-rah himself. Yes. It had to work.

"Could you skip ahead a season?"

The stranger sighed, "Yes."

Then he made the same concentrating face. The wind picked up. The sun spiraled below the horizon and jumped up from the opposite side. Then all was quiet.

"Here we are," The Stranger said.

"Thanks!" Said Juno, and with that, he hopped back towards the warren.

[line]

"J-Juno? You're back! We all thought you drowned or something awful like that! Where have you been these past seasons?"

"Away, but that's beside the point. Where's Lily-rah?"

"Lily-rah?" The rabbit cocked her head, "he's been dead since winter. He's been replaced anyhow."

Juno tensed up. He had a feeling who knew who had taken chief in his absence, but he still asked. Perhaps Marigold hadn't, "Who?"

"Marigold-rah," the rabbit said.

Juno flinched at the name. He knew it. He had gone too far forward, missing his mark, and now Marigold had taken his place. With his position of power robbed of him, he stormed out of the warren.

"Where are you going, Juno?" The rabbit called.

"Away,"

"Where too,"

"Sometime when I'm more wanted,"

"When will we see you again?"

"For you? Never"

The Ruler of Everything was waiting for Juno in the same spot Juno had left him. He called out to the rabbit when he saw him return.

"Oh! You've come back!"

Juno simply scoffed at the greeting.

"Take me more foreword in time,"

"I see." The Ruler of Everything looked concerned, "How far?"

"Hrair seasons,"

"Could you be more specific? Hrair is a massive amount of time,"

"How big could it be? It doesn't matter,"

"As you wish," the Ruler of Everything sighed.

Then the wind started to whip around at ludicrous speed, the sun spun around the sky so fast that it seemed to stretch into one continuous bright yellow line. Slowly, the grass started to turn brown, in places and in a blink of an eye disappeared, giving way to dusty dirt. The sky started to change as well, slowly changing from a bright blue to a cloudy, dirty orange-red. Suddenly it all stopped.

At once Juno found himself in the middle of a horrible scene. Not only had the grass died. The trees and shrubbery had as well, in their place rotted trunks and twisted branches trembled. In the distance tall factories stood, their crumbling smokestacks like sharp knives scraping at the clouded, twisted sky.

Juno whipped around to face "The Ruler of Everything"

"You have to bring me back! Right now!"

"I cannot do that,"

"What? But you said you're the Ruler of Everything! Bring me back this instant!"

The "Ruler of Everything" only looked slightly concerned about what Juno was saying.

"I have to go now," he said simply.

Juno watched In frustration as the rabbit suddenly disappeared into strips of magnificent silvery light which in turn disappeared completely.

Juno cried out anguish. He was stuck here, alone. Why did he have to be so eager to be chief rabbit.? Now his entire warren, his family, was completely gone. His life had been completely wasted. He cursed at frith for sending the rabbit down to him. And for the first time in his adult life, he started to cry. Letting cool teardrops roll off his face and into the dusty dirt below, only to get sucked up by it and disappear.

It was now that Juno realized the dryness of his mouth. Taunting him. Perhaps a drink of water would help cool his nerves. But the lake, along with all the rest of the water, had completely dried up.


	2. Original story

"In the gallows or the ghetto; in the town or the meadow; in the billows even over the sun, every end of time is another begun"

-A time not long after the adventures of Hazel in the gang, and in a nearby warren lived a rabbit by the name of Juno.

-Juno thought that he had it all, he was one of the highest-ranking officials of the Owsla and was set to become the next Cheif rabbit. And he had had many children. He was a very successful rabbit indeed.

-Needless to say that it got to his head; he would strut and prance around (much to the annoyance of everyone around him) and he would constantly brag about how he was the next to become chief, even insisting that his friends call him Juno-rah.

-One day while Juno was out relaxing in his favorite spot on the grass he noticed something peculiar: Next to frith seemed to be a strange, silvery orb. Juno squinted to see better and noticed that it was coming towards him. Thinking quickly he hopped back from where he assumed it was going to land. No sooner had he done this the strange orb lighted down where he was once sitting.

-curious Juno sniffed about it. He circled around it twice giving it a good look over, wondering why it had come down in the first place. Finally, his intrigue got the best of him and he touched the orb with his paw.

\- No sooner had he done this the orb suddenly shifted into the shape of a rabbit. The rabbit was silvery just like the orb, and in the right light, a rainbow could be seen in the fur. Overall the rabbit looked young, yet it's rainbow-colored eyes seemed to hold the knowledge of a thousand lifetimes. Just looking into them gave Juno chills.

-Before Juno could speak the odd rabbit spoke first

-"Hello Juno," it said. Its voice sounded oddly familiar; Juno swore he heard it before, yet he couldn't quite put his paw on it. The only thing he knew

-The egotistical rabbit tried to find words but couldn't as he was enthralled by the way the stranger had appeared. Hrair questions raced through his head. _how did he get here? could anyone else see it? What was going on?_

-"Take your time" the stranger chuckled warmly, "it's not uncommon that you mortals freak out, or, what do you rabbits call it? Go tharn? Yes, that sounds about right."

-Juno found his words soon enough. "Who are you? And what do you want?" He questioned.

-"You already know who I am, you've seen my work, as for what I want

-Juno cut him off before he could continue. "I have never seen you before in my life."

-"Do you want me to continue or do you just want to hear yourself talk?" The stranger questioned.

-Juno ignored this and interrogated the stranger, "What is your name?

-"Well Juno, what is _your _name?"

-"You already know my name! Stop trying to be funny!"

-"Well Juno, to be perfectly clear, I don't have a name. Why would I ever need a name?"

-"You're kidding, right? Everything has a name, the birds! flayrah, even frith himself has a name!"

-"Who is frith? Oh! I know who you're talking about! Good fellow, a wee bit younger than me, honestly I'm honored that, what did you say? Ah yes, he was able to create a world for it- himself."

-Juno looked completely perplexed. He felt a pounding headache coming on. He tried to comprehend the knowledge that had just been dumped on him, but only managed to ask a question.

-"Y-you know frith?"

-"that's what you call it, yes"

-The younger, foolish rabbit was about to tell the stranger how crazy he was but stopped himself when he remembered how the stranger got there.

-"Then why have you come here?"

-"Frith, as you call it, asked me to." He said simply:

-"Whatever fore?"

-"Something about you being egocentric, as you mortals put it. If it and I weren't such good friends I would've never come. That's something I always found funny about 'him'. 'He' cares too much for his creatures. But it's 'his' first time, 'he'll' learn eventually."

-"you are making no sense." Said Juno finally.

-"A mortal would say that" he sighed.

-Juno grew hot with embarrassment. He didn't like being talked down to, it made him feel terrible and he didn't want to feel terrible; he wanted to feel good.

-"Anyway, now that I've shown you you're not important, I'll be on my way." The stranger than promptly turned away towards the woods.

-"Wait!" Juno had jumped in front of the stranger to stop him.

-"You do realize I can just go up, right? This rabbit body is only an illusion so you can interact with me."

-Juno was only half listening to what the stranger was saying. Juno, being very foolish was too excited about interacting with a real god figure in person. _I must be very special if I was chosen to be visited by someone frith knows himself! Wait, can he read my mind?_

-"If you're wondering, no I can't read your mind," said the Stranger, "I'm not the one who can do that."

-*I bet you have dirt for brains, you idiot.* Juno childishly insulted. The stranger gave no reaction.

-_I guess he can't_

-"So are you going to ask for your fortune or something?" The stranger yawned. "I can wait here forever, and I do mean that. I just can't make ever wait for you."

-Juno thought for a moment before questioning.

-"What do you think of me? Am I charming? Annoying?" A smile started to form on his face.

-"To be honest I don't care for you at all, you could be the worst rabbit in the world and I still wouldn't care. To me your entire life, this conversation will be what a blink is to an entire lifetime. I do not care what happens to you at any point in your life. No matter how hard you tell yourself."

-This reply wiped the smile off of Juno's face. He felt embarrassed and defeated. Yet the stranger simply sat there, unmoving, uncaring. Then Juno made it right then and there to be remembered, somehow someway.

-"Stranger? Is there any way I could make you remember me?"

-The stranger simply shook his head. Then added, "you can call me anything you like."

-"Uh is June okay?"

-Juno got no response.

-"June, there *must* be a way to make you remember me! There must be! Please from the bottom of my heart please be!

-The stranger had a thoughtful look on his face. "Perhaps..." with this Juno's face lit up quickly. "...if you can give me a good reason to remember you by."

-Juno was giddy when June suggested the idea.

-"Yes! Yes! I'll do anything!"

-"then show me what you've got."

-"well, um, do you like how I dance? I've got a cute little prance?"

-June looked thoughtful at Juno for a while then said to himself thoughtfully. "Consequential enough to slip you into a trance, but still, not anything special."

-"Do you like how I hop?" Juno hopped around until he got tired, yet June didn't react.

-"Do you like how I talk?" Again nothing

-"Do you like how my face-"

-"disintegrates into chalk?" June cut in. This cause Juno to be suddenly thrown off.

-"What is that supposed to mean?"

-"All life is temporary, and you were becoming quite a bore anyway."

-"Fine!" Juno huffed. The chances of him being remembered crushed. "Then can you at least do something for me?"

-"what would that be?"

-"Could you show me what you actually do?"

-"Me? Of course." And with that June closed his eyes. The sun started to fly through the sky, and the moon shot up in its place, only to then fall back down and get replaced by the sun. Juno was awestruck.

-"So you can manipulate time?"

-"Yes, it's my specialty. I told you you know about me."

-"How far can you go?" Juno's interest was piqued.

-"As far as I want," June said.

-"Can you bring me to next spring?" Juno tested.

-"Yes, but I must warn y-"

-"Then do it!" Commanded Juno. The young rabbit was too foolish and too giddy about June's ability to care for the warning.

-June complied, and a few seconds later it was next spring.

-"WOW!" Said Juno, thoroughly impressed

-"Anything else?"

-"four years into the future?"

-June hesitated but did as he was told. The landscape changed drastically, the grass dried up and the trees browned and died, in the distances, Juno could see factories dumping out loads of smoke from The their tops.

-"there we are, 4 years into the future."

-"What happened here?" Juno asked confused.

-"I'm just the time 'rabbit', I don't know."

-" We need to relocate the warren someone where safe! We can't die to those humans!" Juno was jumping with glee inside. He couldn't wait to go back to his own time and save the entire warren. Then he would go down as a hero of the warren for generations.

-Trying to contain his excitement he asked if he could go back four plus one more years. To which June replied "no."

-"Why not?"

-"Because time doesn't work that way. I can't go backward. There are some things that even _we _can't control.

-Juno's blood ran cold. "N-no, there must be way back! There had to be!"

-June simply shook his head. "I'm sorry. Do you want to go any further?"

-"NO! NO! BRING ME BACK RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW! I'LL CLAW YOUR EARS OFF! I SWEAR."

-"Then it looks like I'll be going then," June said sadly.

-Juno lunged at June but only collided with cold, rotten, dirt. He looked up to see the orb slowly fade away into the sun. Around him lay a desolate place where man reigned supreme. He cursed at the sun for a while through the smog-filled air. Then hung his head in hopelessness.

"It's not fair," he cried, a single tear rolled down his cheek. All he wanted was to be remembered, to be something more than he already was, yet he had thrown his entire life away. His friends and faintly were gone, and barren landscape stretched on for miles. He had doomed himself with his own eagerness.

-The young rabbit's stomach began to rumble, snapping him back to the attention of his starving stomach, he hadn't eaten since that morning. He scouted the area. There was not a single blade of grass in sight.

* * *

Juno was mad He knew he'd been had So he shot at the sun with a gun Shot at the sun with a gun Shot at his wily one Only friend In the gallows or the ghetto In the town or the meadow In the billows Even over the sun Every end of a time Is another begun You understand Mechanical hands Are the ruler of everything Ruler of everything I'm the ruler of everything In the end Do you like how I dance I've got zirconium pants Consequential enough To slip you into a trance Do you like how I walk? Do you like how I talk? Do you like how my face Disintegrates into chalk? I have a wonderful wife I have a powerful job She criticizes me for being egocentric You practice your mannerisms Into the wall If this mirror were clearer I'd be standing so tall I saw you slobber over clovers On the side of the hill I was observing the birds Circle in for the kill I've been you I know you Your facade is a scam You know you're making me cry This is the way that I am I've been living a lie A metamorphical scheme Detective undercover brotherhood Objective: obscene Oh no No? Oh yeah Do you hear the flibbity jibbity jibber jabber With an oh my God I've got to get out of here or I'll have another Word to sell Another story to tell Another timepiece ringing the bell Do you hear the clock stop when you reach the end No You know it must be neverending Comprehend if you can But when you try to pretend to understand You resemble a fool Although you're only a man So give it up and Smile You understand Mechanical hands Are the ruler of everything Ruler of everything I'm the ruler of everything In the end Without looking down Gliding around Like a bumbling dragon I fly Scraping my face on the sky Oh no No? Oh yeah 


End file.
